The British Punch

Punch, or the London Charivari, was a popular British magazine of humour and satire (1841-2002) that gained an international reputation for two things: 1) writing with wit and irrevance, and 2) using cartoons and comics to take on world politics and society during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The magazine had served as a model for Shanghai’s most popular, and historically most important, illustrated newspaper in the late 1800s, the Dianshizhai Pictorial (1884-1898), and Punch‘s renowned cartoons also influenced the development of Chinese cartooning that experienced a “golden age” in 1930s Shanghai.

Punch’s website is visually stimulating because it features a big online collection of cartoons and comics that have been published in Punch. Educational features include a history of the magazine and a history of cartoons. Check it out here: Punch online

Also, many of the old issues of Punch can be accessed through Project Gutenberg, a fantastic online resource for e-publishing. In fact, the first volume of Punch is the best one to read for an introduction to this important magazine: first volume of Punch